Yielded dogs to get new home: Original pet owners could face animal abandonment charges

Two German shepherds that had faced the prospect of being euthanized after getting dropped off last week at the Moorhead dog pound have instead found a new home.

The dogs were left at the F-M Animal Hospital, which also serves as the Moorhead dog pound, by a man who told a staffer the animals belonged to a neighbor and he ­didn’t want them jumping on his children anymore.

Dilworth Police Chief Dave Miller said Friday that the owners of the animals, a Dilworth couple, came forward this past week after learning the dogs faced being euthanized Friday afternoon if a home wasn’t found for them by then.

According to Miller, the couple said that after searching unsuccessfully for a home for the dogs, they thought dropping them off at the animal hospital was the same as giving them to an animal shelter.

“They got some bad information,” Miller said, adding that once the couple heard the dogs could be killed, they scraped together money to pay the fees required to get the animals out of the pound.

Miller said the couple told him they found someone willing to give the dogs a home and planned to transfer ownership after taking the dogs from the pound Friday afternoon.

A spokesman for Moorhead police said Thursday that because of how the dogs were left at the animal hospital, reports may be forwarded to the Clay County Attorney’s Office to be reviewed for possible animal abandonment charges.